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Side Quests with Aorin Shariyari

Aorin Shariyari was a console gamer up till recent times but due to lack of time she went back to the PC calling herself a converted soul from console to PC

Owner of a PC and a PS3, 24-year-old Delhi resident Aorin Shariyari was a console gamer up till recent times where due to lack of time she went back to the PC calling herself a converted soul from console to PC. She has been gaming since she was 5 on her game boy and was quite fond of it. She then went forward gaming on retro consoles, PCs and then modern day play stations. Aorin has been cosplaying all her life and goes on to describe how a hobby has transformed to a part of who she is and is slowly replacing her identity completely as Aorin Shariyari is now either “Colour me Aorin” (her cosplay name) or “PersianMeow” (gaming name).

Gaming systems owned
Gaming Laptop – PC and PS3

Favourite videogame
My heart always lies with Mortal Kombat – I love this game since the first fatality to the latest brutality

Favourite videogame character
Alisa Bosconovitch from Tekken, she is adorable I love her moves and the colours, her hair, I feel like I can relate to her, she feels like me.

Favourite cosplay
My favorite cosplay so far has been Morrigan from Dark Stalkers, she has been one of my favorite characters and was super nervous about cosplaying her since she is one of the HOTTEST girl in video games and I made that costume in quite a rush since I was running late on a deadline but I love how it turned out.

Who’s your favourite professional gamer?
I have recently developed a huge crush on Jaroslaw “pasha” Jarzabkowski, he plays CS:GO for the Polish team Virtus.pro and he is just amazing and funny.

Do you have any role model from the videogame industry?
That would be Sudhen “bleh^” Wahengbam, He is absolutely the best caster I have ever encountered in my life, i have seen him improve with every cast every match and this guy is going places, he is going to make a difference in the Indian gaming scenes and I hope I could learn a few tricks from him as he aspires me to cast someday.

Sony or Microsoft?
Sony wins this battle; what can I say I love the whole God of War series.

Jade Raymond or Anita Sarkeesian?
While I appreciate Anita Sarkeesian’s dedication and hard work I would go with Jade Raymond, EA gave us female football team in FIFA 2016

Describe gamergate in one line
I will give you one word #NotYourShield

Do you think gaming is friendly/inclusive to women?
Of course it is, I have met the most amazing friends I know via gaming and gaming is a part of me, I can never go against gaming – gaming is love gaming is life!

Have you had any bad gaming experiences/harassment due to your gender?
Many times and in many ways, sometimes people just don’t take you seriously as a gamer because you are a girl and they assume you don’t know how to even hold a controller, this is still fun sometimes after you see the look on their faces once you destroy their character in game but then we come to the darker side, once they know you are a girl they start commenting online about sending them pictures or flashing them and it just gets ugly to the point that you have to mute and block these people.

If there’s one thing you could fix about videogames and/or the gaming culture what would it be?
I would only like to change one thing if I had the control, I have no issues with the sexualization of the female characters, but I really wish to request the game developers to please make more cosplay friendly designs. No seriously, we are just humans.

Why do you think there aren’t as many videogames with female lead characters?
I don’t think this is true anymore, yes in the past gaming world was dominated by men and more focused on male characters but as you may have noticed in recent years and specially after E3 2015 there are a lot good games coming out this year featuring a female lead (Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Horizon Zero Dawn, ReCore, Hellblade,) these are the games I am looking forward to and let’s not forget the new FIFA 2016 with female football teams.

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Nachiket "therapist" Mhatre

Nachiket has been obsessed with computers and videogames since the 8086 days. But don't you go asking him about his earliest gaming memory. Not unless you are fine with being subjected to an interminable monologue romanticising the warm monochrome glow of early DOS games and how the medium has since lost its soul at the turn of the millennium. When he isn't being a corporate slave at MySmartPrice.com, Nachiket spends his free time tinkering with hobby grade R/C, practicing archery, or just sharpening his knives for relaxation.

SKOAR! is India's Premier Gaming Website. SKOAR! began its journey as a bi-monthly publication in 2003 and has since kept growing. Through this journey, it has evolved from a purely print magazine to an interactive magazine and now, has made its foray into the digital space. BTW, why on earth are you reading this part? Ran out of articles to read? Weren't we entertaining enough? Maybe you're just bored, so you might as well go pester the editor or troll someone in the comments ;-)